A Stained White Radiance
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Book Description
The fifth gripping novel in the highly acclaimed Dave Robicheaux series.
Product Description
A bullet shot through the window of Weldon Sonnier's house propels Dave Robicheaux back into the lives of a family he's not sure he wants to be reacquainted with ... Weldon Sonnier's CIA-influenced past has led to dangerous connections and commitments, including debts to local mob boss Joey 'Meatballs' Gouza. As Weldon puts himself in the line of fire, Lyle Sonnier, television evangelist and faith healer, reveals to Dave a violent family history that intersects menacingly with Dave's own. But overshadowing the manoeuvres of Gouza's gang is the spectre of racial politics, and it is former Klansman Bobby Earl who will prove to be Dave Robicheaux's most elusive enemy.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"A Stained White Radiance," published in 1992, is fifth in James Lee Burke's highly popular Dave Robicheaux series. It bears some family resemblance to the others, particularly in Burke's remarkable ability to make his home country-- New Orleans and its surround, Southern Louisiana-- sing. His descriptions of its landscape, animal, vegetable and mineral, are so deeply felt, that people who have never been closer to New Orleans than Chicago can sense its morning aromas, its approaching storms and nighttime skies.
There are further family resemblances, to be sure. Robicheaux is married to second wife Bootsie, whom he knows, as he does most people in his world, from high school or before. Bootsie suffers from lupus. The detective has quietly, unofficially adopted orphan Alafair; she keeps a three-legged raccoon, called Tripod, as a pet. Robicheaux owns a bait shop that Batist, longtime black family servant, manages. The detective is with the New Iberia police department, as he's been kicked off the New Orleans department. He's still battling his demons: drink, dark memories of Vietnam. His cases generally lead him to the dark side, often to New Orleans, frequently to conflict with the local mafia. When he needs to, he calls upon Clete Purcell, his former partner at NOPD, who's been excommunicated from the department, as he has. Purcell's a heavy, sunburnt, Irish Channel kind of guy, eats too much, smokes and drinks too much, drives an old Cadillac, and lets his anger out to play too frequently. Robicheaux's cases often, as this one, involve present-day outgrowths of hidden, long-ago misdeeds. The family resemblance continues in that the case in this book centers, as so many of the author's do, around the detective's childhood friends, the Cajun Sonnier family, that are ineradicably marked by the harsh abuse they suffered in childhood. The case also centers on the murder of a local cop. When Robicheaux finally clears the murder in his usual fashion, with a high body count, his supervisor will tell him, "I think you wrote your signature on this case with a baseball bat, Dave." Sometimes he does.
However, in this book, Robicheaux is unable to reach the man he really wants to bring down. He muses, " I was guilty of that age-old presumption that the origins of social evil can be traced to villainous individuals, that we just need to identify them, lock them in cages, or even march them to the executioner's wall, and this time, yes, this time, we'll catch a fresh breeze in our sails and set ourselves on a true course." Doesn't mean he doesn't keep trying.
There are further family resemblances, to be sure. Robicheaux is married to second wife Bootsie, whom he knows, as he does most people in his world, from high school or before. Bootsie suffers from lupus. The detective has quietly, unofficially adopted orphan Alafair; she keeps a three-legged raccoon, called Tripod, as a pet. Robicheaux owns a bait shop that Batist, longtime black family servant, manages. The detective is with the New Iberia police department, as he's been kicked off the New Orleans department. He's still battling his demons: drink, dark memories of Vietnam. His cases generally lead him to the dark side, often to New Orleans, frequently to conflict with the local mafia. When he needs to, he calls upon Clete Purcell, his former partner at NOPD, who's been excommunicated from the department, as he has. Purcell's a heavy, sunburnt, Irish Channel kind of guy, eats too much, smokes and drinks too much, drives an old Cadillac, and lets his anger out to play too frequently. Robicheaux's cases often, as this one, involve present-day outgrowths of hidden, long-ago misdeeds. The family resemblance continues in that the case in this book centers, as so many of the author's do, around the detective's childhood friends, the Cajun Sonnier family, that are ineradicably marked by the harsh abuse they suffered in childhood. The case also centers on the murder of a local cop. When Robicheaux finally clears the murder in his usual fashion, with a high body count, his supervisor will tell him, "I think you wrote your signature on this case with a baseball bat, Dave." Sometimes he does.
However, in this book, Robicheaux is unable to reach the man he really wants to bring down. He muses, " I was guilty of that age-old presumption that the origins of social evil can be traced to villainous individuals, that we just need to identify them, lock them in cages, or even march them to the executioner's wall, and this time, yes, this time, we'll catch a fresh breeze in our sails and set ourselves on a true course." Doesn't mean he doesn't keep trying.
13 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A Stained White Radiance is the perfect read for all those readers out there who want a fearful glimpse into the world of 'lowlife criminals' in America. James Lee Burke has a completely sound grasp on the emotions of a recovering alcoholic and troubled husband and farther, creating a vividly real and complex novel. There are many raw moments in this novel that culminate into a whole range of different characters from the bad to the ugly to the murderer and not to mention the hero. Definitely a book that can't be missed!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the ultimate pageturner. Set in New Orleans and embracing TV evangelism, Burke's crime story moves speedily and cleverly. After just a few pages you're deep in action, and hooked on the satisfying complexities of detective Robicheaux character.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not good used book but tatty
This was a low priced book described as good used. It is in fact a tatty book that has seen considerable use. Damaged spine, sun faded pages and creased cover. Read more
Published 5 months ago by M. Bedford
stunning writer..great character
actually i've not read this particular novel in the dave robicheaux series yet, though all the others i've read are all superb and i've often heard this one is up there with the... Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2007 by lastcoyote
Steeped in the South
"A Stained White Radiance" is the first book from the Dave Robicheaux series, in fact it is the first James Lee Burke book I've ever read. It probably wont be the last though. Read more
Published on 24 Sep 2006 by C. Mcsloy
A stunning use of the English language!!
A Stained White Radiance is the perfect read for all those readers out there who want a fearful glimpse into the world of 'lowlife criminals' in America. Read more
Published on 9 April 2001 by richard@bpatman.fsnet.co.uk
One of the better in the Robicheaux series
I came to James Lee Burke and Dave Robicheaux by accident and now I am hooked!!! I started with Sunset Limited, not knowing there was 9 earlier novels in the series. Read more
Published on 20 July 1999
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